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COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2001

Mahathir digs deep into old roots

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad took two hours to deliver a 21-page address at the opening ceremony of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) assembly on June 21. During the assembly's closing session two days later, he took another two hours to elaborate on the key...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 6, 2001

Beach wood louse

* Japanese name:Funamushi * Scientific name: Ligia exotica * Description: Beach wood lice are isopods, which are in the crustacean group, like shrimps. But unlike shrimps, their bodies are flattened parallel to the ground. Like regular wood lice, they have seven pairs of legs and large eyes. They...
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2001

Report sees 33 public firms needing trillions

The state will need to inject 11.26 trillion yen into 33 government affiliates over the next 80 years to keep them in operation, an advisory panel to the finance minister estimated Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2001

The government must share the pain

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, last week announced a set of policy guidelines aimed at reviving Japan's moribund economy. The comprehensive program, titled "Basic Policies Concerning Economic and Fiscal Management and Structural Reform,"...
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2001

Japan wants to talk over trade rift with China

Japan plans to send a government mission to China to urge Beijing to retract its decision to impose special 100 percent tariffs on imports of Japanese automobiles, mobile phones and air conditioners, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 24, 2001

Natural urban chaos in the worst-case scenario

Last Sunday night I settled down to watch one of my favorite TV shows, "Tokumei Research 200X" (NTV, 7:58 p.m.), quite unprepared for what I was about to learn. If you've never seen this particular information program, it is built around the fictional Far East Research Center, a shiny mission control...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 22, 2001

Genji firefly

* Japanese name: Genjibotaru * Scientific name: Luciola cruciata * Description: Fireflies aren't flies -- they are beetles, as you can tell from the hard shell that protects their wings when they're not flying. Adults are 12-18 mm long. They have black bodies and legs, and a red thorax. The most...
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2001

Lawmaker blasts Mori role in AIDS forum

An HIV-positive lawmaker has blasted plans to let former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori address a special U.N. session on AIDS later this month, citing previous discriminatory remarks made by Mori regarding the disease. On Tuesday, 41-year-old Satoru Ienishi of the Democratic Party of Japan slammed the...
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2001

SDF ranks open to reservists with no military experience

Need a part-time job? Ever considered the Self-Defense Forces? Spending holidays in boot camp could earn you 7,900 yen a day.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2001

Mori tapped to attend U.N. AIDS meet

The government hinted Monday that it would send former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to the U.N. Special Session on HIV/AIDS to be held June 25 to 27 at the U.N. headquarters in New York, sources said.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 19, 2001

Where the trade routes cross

Fifty years ago, travelers on American roads used to watch for trucks parked by roadside diners. Most people believed that truckers knew the best places to eat, and that any restaurant with trucks parked in front of it would serve good food.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2001

The price of the 'New World blitzkrieg'

LONDON -- "The survivors are scraps," says evolutionary biologist Dr. John Alroy about the large mammal species that remain in North America after the wave of extinctions that followed the arrival of the first humans less than 14,000 years ago. And there is no longer any question about why all the rest...
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2001

Moving toward real reform

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has drawn up guidelines for a range of structural reforms planned by his administration. These policy outlines, designed to reshape Japan's outmoded economic society, are by and large acceptable.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2001

Long road ahead for planned judicial reform

Following Tuesday's proposals by the Judicial Reform Council, which came after two years of strenuous deliberations, attention has shifted to how the government will introduce the sweeping changes in cooperation with judicial parties.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2001

Low growth is the price of reforms

Japan will have to endure low economic growth over the next two to three years as the nation undergoes radical reforms, a key government economic panel said in the draft of a reform blueprint to be released later this month.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2001

Koizumi's bid to empower urban voters hit

Toshikatsu Matsuoka is frustrated.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 10, 2001

Publishing still in a slump; DaVinci stays popular with young

Last month, the National Tax agency made its annual announcement of those paying more than 10 million yen in income tax and, as always, the list reflected major trends of the times.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2001

Mayors called on to rethink use of road tax revenue

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday called for city mayors to revise their opposition to using tax revenues specially earmarked for road construction for other purposes.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2001

Japan tipped to pledge millions to AIDS fund

Japan is considering contributing around $100 million to a United Nations-proposed fund to fight AIDS, which is spreading particularly rapidly in impoverished sub-Saharan Africa, government sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Shiokawa wants amount of secretly used funds reduced

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Monday his ministry will consider reducing the amount of special funds set aside for classified government activities in the fiscal 2001 budget.
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2001

Reform blueprint supports Koizumi's avowed projects

A government panel has approved the basic framework of draft guidelines on economic and fiscal policies that center on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reform initiatives, including comprehensive reform of the national budget.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2001

Shiokawa eyes abolition of capital gains levies

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa plans to call on the ruling parties to consider an early abolition of the withholding tax on stock transactions.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2001

Debt-waiver puts Hazama in the black

Hazama Corp. said Monday its group net balance in fiscal 2000 swung back into the black as a one-time gain from a 105 billion yen debt-waiver wiped out most of its extraordinary losses.
JAPAN
May 26, 2001

Koizumi, coalition to be tested in July

Although Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Cabinet continue to enjoy record-high public approval ratings, the real test for the new administration will come in the July House of Councilors election.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2001

Budget needs must freeze: Shiokawa

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa stressed Thursday he wants no increase in budget requests from ministries and agencies for fiscal 2002, so that government spending can be restrained.
JAPAN
May 25, 2001

Diet action eyed to help Hansen's disease patients

The ruling coalition agreed Thursday that it will move quickly to adopt a Diet resolution to help former Hansen's disease patients.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 25, 2001

Spring cicada

* Japanese name: Haruzemi * Scientific name: Terpnosia vocua
BUSINESS
May 23, 2001

Recommendations on new tax system due by yearend

A government tax panel plans to compile recommendations regarding taxation on securities transactions by the end of this year, with an eye to introducing a comprehensive tax system with a broader basis.
CULTURE / Art
May 23, 2001

On the streets of Oguiss' town

When I first saw the oil paintings of Paris by the Japanese artist, Takanori Oguiss (1901-1986) I was strangely reminded of the neutron bomb, a weapon notorious for its ability to annihilate humans without damaging buildings.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan